The Cursed

What a crime that such an effectively moody and atmospheric thriller as this must be graced with such a generic title as The Cursed.  I assume that this was a studio mandate of some sort, as when the film played at the Sundance Film Festival last year, it went by the name Eight for Silver.  Regardless, it doesn't take away the fact that writer-director Sean Ellis brings some much needed life to the werewolf genre here, and brings us a film that is genuinely unnerving at times.

Despite the familiarity of the monster in question. Ellis tries a lot new here, while also paying homage to some traditions.  While we have the silver bullets, bands of gypsies, and frightened villagers that come with the werewolf territory, he also gives us a new design for the creature that I have never seen before, and some truly astonishing physical effects.  And yet, he also knows the key rule of horror in which the less we see of the monster, the better.  He lets us have a good look, but there's still a quality of mystery to the creature.  He also understands how to create a menacing atmosphere, even when the creature is not lurking about.  He uses long, voyeuristic shots that sometimes makes it look like we are watching a horrific scene from afar, and are helpless observers.

This aspect is most effectively used during a scene that kicks off the plot.  In the late 19th Century, a land baron named Seamus (Alistair Petrie) has learned that a band of traveling gypsies have settled on his property, claiming it is rightfully theirs.  Not wanting to deal with them, he hires a band of mercenaries to remove them by force.  We witness the violence from afar for a majority of it, and it is mainly during the horrible aftermath that the camera finally brings us up close to the cruelty at hand.  We watch a helpless gypsy woman place a curse upon the land while she is buried alive, while a man is strung up like a gothic scarecrow, and has his hands and feet removed.  This "scarecrow" image is one of the more effectively chilling images I've seen in a recent horror film, and Ellis makes great use of it, making it a key figure in his story.

Not long after this happens, all of the children in the local settlement start having vivid nightmares about the scarecrow, and about something that is buried in the spot underneath it.  This includes Seamus' young son Edward (Max Mackintosh) and daughter Charlotte (Amelia Crouch).  All of the village children decide to visit the site that they see in their dreams, and I will have to be careful not to dip into spoiler territory here, but a tragic event occurs where Edward seems to have been attacked by a wild animal.  Despite his wounds, he mysteriously disappears in the middle of the night from his home, and not long after, there are a string of similar vicious animal-like attacks.  When one of the local children turns up horribly mauled, a pathologist named John McBride (Boyd Holbrook) is called in to investigate.  As he searches for information, he finds a number of similarities to a tragic event he experienced years ago, and begins to fear that the curse placed upon the land is getting stronger as more mutilated villagers begin to turn up.

The Cursed has a beautiful, gloomy old world look that is something I have not seen from a major film since 2012's The Woman in Black.  Like that film, it creates a quiet and tense atmosphere with overcast skies, fog-drenched landscapes, and the sense that a strong, supernatural evil can strike at any time.  And yet, Ellis does not get caught up in the trappings of his settings.  He's making a thriller, not a "costume drama", and he creates an unshakable feeling of dread.  Starting with that horrific scarecrow image, he goes on to give us a creature that is clearly a werewolf, but looks nothing like one that's been captured on film before.  Using practical effects, he creates some memorable images, most notably a scene where John McBride cuts open a monster.  I won't reveal what he finds within, but it's truly a surprising moment.

This is the kind of movie where you simply get lost in the mood that it creates.  You could argue that these are not the most complex characters out there, but they're developed enough so that they never come across as being thin.  The emphasis here is on transporting the audience into its story, and at that, it is undeniably successful.  I was fortunate enough to watch this film in a theater where I was the only one in attendance, so I was able to let the images and story wash over me.  Of course, this also means that its time at your local theater will be very brief, so definitely seek this out while you can.  It's the kind of effectively chilling and quiet thriller that can still startle you with its violent images.  This can be a gory film, but it is used sparingly, and in such a way that it's striking and not exploitative.  

Besides, Ellis is not making a "gore show" here.  We're not supposed to hoot and cheer at the kills like in some horror films.  The Cursed is the kind of movie that effectively gets under your skin in the best way, and it's surprising how seldom modern horror films can do that.  It's the perfect blend of quiet atmosphere, mounting tension, and gruesome viciousness. 

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